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Rumors Of Their Demise Were Greatly Exaggerated

The Mavericks remembered how to shoot the ball, the Warriors lost control of their emotions and the series heads to Oakland knotted at 1 after the 112-99 Maverick victory. The key quarter was the third. Dallas led by a deuce at the half but came out of the locker room with guns blazing. They shot 53% from the floor, forced seven turnovers and extended their lead to 13 points. Perhaps showing thier Achilles heel, the Warriors responded by committing three technical fouls which resulted in Baron Davis' ejection. There were a lot of whistles against Golden State, to be sure, but they exacerbated each one with histrionics. Davis picked up his first technical on a strange play in the third when Stephen Jackson picked up a reaching-in foul and Davis then swiped at the ball, which Jason Terry still had in his control. It was innocous but the kind of play that under the playoff spotlight easily ratchets up the tension and is just too stupid a road for any veteran to go down. Jackson got ejected in the fourth, robbing Golden State of any chance to come back. Terry led the way for the Mavs with 28 points, Josh Howard had 22 and 11 rebounds and Dirk rebounded with 23 points after a terrible Game One.

The Spurs also recovered from their Game One loss to even their series at home. They beat the Nuggets 97-88 behind their big three. Tim Duncan scored 22 points, Tony Parker got 20 and Manu Ginobili added 17 off the bench but Denver was in the game all the way. The Spurs led by just three with 45 seconds left but Duncan made a shot and Denver had to start fouling. The Spurs were steady from the line and held on for the victory.

Drew Gooden had 24 points and 14 rebounds for Cleveland and they head to Washington up 2-0 after Wednesday's 109-102 win. The Wiz played better in Game Two but there really isn't much hope for a miracle ending in this series. D.C. fans should hope for one last win but four is a bridge too far.